Salt of the earth

Sometimes people and places are just so smashing lovely. Sheila and Jo run a little B&B just outside Clonegal and they’re great. The tea and biccies on arrival, the garlic mushrooms, Irish stew and rhubarb crumble for supper and porridge and pancakes for brekkie all helped. And then Clonegal itself is a charming small village with a highly rated restaurant (open from Thursday), Sean Duinn’s (where the local Man Utd Supporters club clearly meet and drown their increasing sorrows) and Osbourne’s bar owned by the same couple for 40 years. They also provide a nice touch to prove that us walking types are Certifiable

Thanks to Doc for summarising the Strava feeds for the WW; the guidebook didn’t say anything about 14,000 feet of ascent…

Anyway, today was Day 1 of the S Leinster Way and although locals have been poking chicken entrails with sticks and examining their webbed hands there has still not been any appearance of That Great Yellow Orb in the Sky. The route was pretty consistently like this

to enable me to get over or past Mount Leinster, Blackstair Mountain…

Just occasionally got teased with a nice little panorama

otherwise hoping that it will finally be shorts and one layer time soon (so I can complain about it being too hot)

MOTD1: over 100 miles under my (tighter) belt

MOTD2:  very brief trip into another county (Wexford)

Stroll ?on